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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26580931">In Sickness And In Health</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jentaro/pseuds/jentaro'>jentaro</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>wedding planner au [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Modern AU, Sickfic, these lads are Gay, u don't gotta read the first one but its more fun if u do</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:13:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,287</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26580931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jentaro/pseuds/jentaro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s just a little chest congestion, I’ll be <i>fine</i> Jask, you don't have to go out of your way like this…” Eskel says, another deep, rattling cough sweeping through him. “I’ll be over it in a few days, my immune system is diamond plated.” </p><p>/</p><p>Eskel is sick and Jaskier takes care of him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eskel/Jaskier | Dandelion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>wedding planner au [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902769</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In Sickness And In Health</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/bulletincookie/gifts">bulletincookie</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>a drabble i owed cookie as a bribe for writing more secret admirer au &gt;:3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“It’s just a little chest congestion, I’ll be <i>fine</i> Jask, you don't have to go out of your way like this…” Eskel says, another deep, rattling cough sweeping through him. “I’ll be over it in a few days, my immune system is diamond plated.” </p><p>“So? Let me take care of you anyway.”</p><p>They had just done a consultation with a bride and groom together, Jaskier tagging along since they were supposed to grab lunch before heading to a movie and didn't want to be late to it, but… Jaskier had taken one look at him, heard him cough, and declared him unfit for public. Considering the face mask he'd worn to the meeting, Eskel can't exactly say that Jaskier’s fussing is unfounded. </p><p>Jaskier’s place is closer, so they end up at his apartment building. By the time they're upstairs and inside, Eskel is feeling feverish enough that he doesn't argue when Jaskier tells him to get into bed and stay there. His favorite person in the whole world sits beside him on the edge of the mattress while taking his temperature which is predictably too high. And after some cough medicine, things get a little fuzzy. </p><p>Jaskier turns the blinds down, letting the curtains close to make the room darker, and Eskel falls asleep very quickly, but not deeply. He can hear Jaskier shuffling about around the rest of the apartment, once and a while checking on him and bringing him some ibuprofen and a mug of tea that goes cold before Eskel can even muster the strength to take a sip. He thinks he can hear Jaskier talking to him, soothing him and pushing sweaty hair back from his forehead; surrounded by his voice and the smell of him from his sheets and everything combining together makes him ache in a different way than his bones do.</p><p>Hours later, well into the evening, Eskel regains consciousness with his miserable hacking to the sound of pots banging around in the kitchen. Or at least, that's what it sounds like, but he's too tired to move and investigate whatever sorry attempt at food he’s making. As much as he lo—likes Jaskier, he is not a great cook, something that Eskel plans to remedy one day if he survives long enough. </p><p>Somehow, it feels as if he's gotten worse, shivering even with no less than three soft blankets tossed over him. At the very least, he pops the (new? same?) set of ibuprofen on the nightstand and downs the cold tea with it in an attempt to soothe his throat from being painfully dry. Eskel turns over onto his other side, relieved to have a change in position so he can sink into the mattress and rest some more. </p><p>At some point, he's grabbed a pillow to hold onto, stuffing his face into it while he lays and lets his head swim. Jaskier comes back in while he's somewhat lucid, and Eskel hears the soft clink of dishes and silverware getting put on the nightstand. Then his hair is pushed back from his forehead, the back of Jaskier’s other hand feeling for his temperature. He must still be overly warm, based on the sigh—he wouldn't really know in his half dead state, but the back of Jaskier’s hand is cool and Eskel is glad to feel it.</p><p>“You awake now?”</p><p>“Hmm,” is all he has the energy to mumble, keeping his eyes closed and leaning into Jaskier’s hand.</p><p>“I made soup for you, and before you cringe, it's one of the very few things I can make that's good, so if you feel up to it, I brought you a bowl. Do you need anything else?”</p><p>“Mnn,” his approximation of no without having to sound out the word. It’s a pathetic noise for a pathetically laid out man such as himself to make, but Jaskier kisses his sweaty hair and tells him to get some rest; it is the biggest regret of Eskel’s life to not have the words to ask Jaskier to lay down with him and hold him. As soon as the door closes again, the soreness of his heart keeps him awake. Savoring the softness of Jaskier’s bed with his arms wrapped around a fluffy pillow, thinking about how Jaskier brought him soup that he made and the little kiss he gave him, Eskel feels especially tender.</p><p>When he wakes up again, it's later still in the evening, coughing and hacking and <i>miserable</i>, sitting up in bed. It comes with aches and pains and a chill that won't quit, and Jaskier comes in very quickly with a hot mug of tea and some heavy duty cough medicine to take.</p><p>“Ohhhhh, my poor baby. I hate seeing you like this,” Jaskier says, arm around his back while he sits with him, taking his temperature again. It must be too high, still, because he gets laid back down forcibly, which Eskel does on his opposite side to alleviate the soreness. </p><p>It’s shocking enough when Jaskier lays behind him and puts an arm around his waist that Eskel can't help mumbling, “Gonna get you sick…”</p><p>“In sickness and in health, my darling hubby. Get some more sleep.” One arm around him over the blankets as if Jaskier had read his mind earlier, his other hand gently playing with Eskel’s disgusting hair, and he thinks he could die in this moment and be happy. He certainly does feel like he <i>is</i> dying as he drifts off.</p><p>When he wakes up in the morning, the regretfully dejected bowl of soup is gone, there's a fresh mug of something on the nightstand, another round of ibuprofen that he takes, and a note saying to make himself at home while Jaskier is at work. The fever seems to have broken during the night since Eskel loses the dramatics and is in fact not dying, but he's back in bed as soon as he's gone to the bathroom and then found something to shove down his throat so his stomach doesn't feel like an empty cavern anymore.</p><p>His phone ringing on the nightstand sometime around noon wakes him up again when he's feeling a little bit more human, and it's only because it's Jaskier that he answers and puts it on speaker on the pillow next to him. Eskel’s voice is scratchy, but he manages, “Hey Jask.”</p><p>“How’re you feeling? I’m on my lunch, I wanted to check in and make sure you're doing okay.”</p><p>“Fever’s gone, feel like shit, but I’ll make it.” </p><p>“Good! Well, better than last night at least, you were a little delirious after midnight. But anyway, don't let my sickness cure soup go to waste, I put the pot in the fridge, just pop it back on the stove and heat it up.”</p><p>“Mm, might just do that,” Eskel says, and then falters, because this particular brand of domesticity is unfamiliar ground for him. He’s <i>never</i> had someone take care of him while he's sick, and Vesemir doesn't count, so he wants to hold onto this as long as possible. He's tired and achy and wants nothing more than to have Jaskier back here holding him again, but his voice is gonna have to do. “Jask, tell me about your day so far. Please?”</p><p>He can hear the smile in Jaskier’s voice when he responds, “Yeah, of course.”</p><p>It's not the best, as it always seems to be. Entitled people being rude and pushing Jaskier to his limit. There's one customer he’s told about that makes Eskel laugh (and cough, and cough, and <i>cough</i>), but by the end of Jaskier’s lunch hour, he’s drifted back to sleep with a smile on his face and a full heart.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>you can find me on tumblr @ <a href="https://jennyloggins.tumblr.com/">jennyloggins</a> and on twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/slimejen">slimejen</a>. feel free to come talk or say hi or yell at me or whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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